Coach Tom Coughlin - 11/29

Coach Tom Coughlin meets the media during his weekly press conference

Coughlin: Good Morning. We’re excited. In the division, against the Washington Redskins, obviously a team that’s won two games in a row in the division, and feel very good about themselves. Following our game with them, they lost a couple of tough games to Pittsburgh and to Carolina, and they bounced back and scored 69 points in the last two weeks, so obviously they do have the ability to score. They’re 12, they’re offense is seventh overall, 26.8 points per game. They do an outstanding job of that. Defensively, they’re third in the league against the run. They’ve always been a very difficult, sticky, team against the run. Their pressure package has been turned up a little bit in the last couple weeks; that’s how we remember them playing. They’ve forced 22 turnovers. They have 14 interceptions. They’ve done an outstanding job along those lines. As I said, they’re 12, we’re 13. They’re 11th in kickoff coverage. They’re sixth in punt coverage. They have Banks as the outstanding returner. They have a well-rounded football team and we’re anxious to get back out on the field and start to work against this Washington Redskin team.

Q: After seeing RGIII the first time, what do you have to do differently this time around?A: He’s getting better, no question. He’s got the numbers to prove it. He’s done extremely well with the passing game, the play-action passes. What you notice is the effectiveness with the completion percentage and the yardage that’s attained. It may not be as many throws, but it’s more productive.

Q: What did you like about the two running backs (Torain and Lumpkin) that you signed?A: They had outstanding workouts and were in a need at that position there. That’s why we signed two of them. We’re going to get them on the practice field today and, basically, they’ll have some scout team reps, maybe a rep or two with the offensive team and we’ll go from there.

Q: Did you have to have a talk with him at all about his responsibilities?A: What would I (say)…”David, you’re now…” Yeah, we’ve talked. Yes.

Q: How do you know he’s ready to go?A: He’s got to go.

Q: “Got to” and “ready to” go are different:A: Maybe, but we’ve had people that have had to step up in the past when situations like this have arisen. We’ve put a lot of responsibility on their shoulders and it’s time for him. He’s a first round draft choice, a talented kid. He got some plays the other night, which was a good thing. We go from there.

Q: Is it important to not put too much weight on Ahmad Bradshaw’s shoulders?A: Ahmad has it all. He’s had the experience, he’s been the pass-protector, he’s caught the ball out of the backfield, he’s run the ball. Hopefully, we can extend that a little bit further and yet develop and get some snaps out of David and, perhaps, someone else as well.

Q: What’s it like facing a coach like Mike Shanahan and the Redskins that you know so well, and do you have to anticipate wrinkles because of the familiarity?A: You always have to anticipate. They’ve always been a gadget team; they’ll have something that they’ve utilized. They’ve done so in the past. You look at the Pittsburgh game, then the very next week there’s RGIII running down the sideline with a ball thrown to him out of the backfield. Reverses off of different looks. Mike’s always done that. A couple years ago, they had the tight end formations with a big drag route down the sideline with the tight end that was very, very effective. They will always do that. They have a diversified offense, diversified system now that incorporates various forms of options. It’s a very interesting preparation.

Q: How far do you go back when you study a coach like Mike Shanahan?A: (sarcastic) 1996.

Q: Is Kenny Phillips going to practice today?A: Not today, but we hope tomorrow.

Q: Can you get carryover from the way the defense played against Green Bay in this particular game against the Redskins?A: You’ve got different styles, but you’ve got to build on some positive things that occurred, yes.

Q: Will Baas practice with the shoulder?A: No, not today.

Q: Did that happen late in the game?A: No. Does that make a difference? He banged his shoulder.

Q: He came out for the last two snaps at the end.A: Not exactly there, but I could see that he needed to come out.

Q: In what ways does it help your defense to have been on the field with RG3 in the first meeting?A: Well, I hope there’s that immediate recall when they look at the tape of our game. They amassed a lot of yards and did an awful lot of very good things and I’m hoping that there is some recall and that’s where you start from. You’re obviously going to do some tweaking of how we played them and what was good and what wasn’t good and so on and so forth. But if you’ve got something to build from I think it’s easier for the players to relate to and that’s where we started on defense.

Q: With the fourth and 10 conversion that RG3 had against you the last game, what was going through your mind during that play?A: Well, that’s only one. There’s a number of times when you were hoping you had him. You’re talking about a guy that runs 4.4 and weighs 220 pounds. You’ve got to be in position, if that’s what you’re asking. You can’t lose contain. Even when you have your option responsibilities, you cannot lose contain and when that happens he makes plays.

Q: Some of the players were saying they realized that he’s a better downfield passer than maybe he gets credit for. Is that something that’s influenced your preparation for this game?A: Very much so. Strong arm.

Q: Does preparing for him remind you of preparing for any other skill player?A: Well, there are two or three people that we played year in and year out that are running type quarterbacks that you have to really do a great job with. They do some things that create different problems for you, but as far as a mobile quarterback that will pull it down and run; we’ve played against a few and we can relate to a little bit of that, but this is a little bit different.Q: Can you talk about the importance of this game as far as trying to win this division and being able to separate from Washington?A: Well, for both teams it’s a very big game. It’s a divisional game. It’s at this point of the year they’re coming off two divisional wins. We’re anxious to get back into the division, hopefully, to do well, but it’s a very important game for both teams.

Q: Last year after that big win in Dallas you came home and had to play the Redskins and didn’t come out with the result you wanted. Is that something you will reference this week about being careful?A: No. The stage has been set. If this was a six-game schedule, now it’s a five. Every game is extremely important. This is the most important game we’ve played all year long this Monday night.

Q: How did the tests with Diehl’s injury come out?A: OK. He’s sore.

Q: Is he going to practice?A: No, he’s not going to practice today.

Q: What did you see from Hakeem the other day?A: He made plays. He made some plays for us. He made a heck of a play to score a touchdown. He made some other plays. He’s a very competitive guy, as you know. He really loves to compete and play. We saw more of that and we’re hoping with a little bit extra rest, we’re going to see more.

Q: Will Ahmad practice?A: Ahmad is always out there. Whatever he does, maybe we’ll use him a little bit, but not a lot.

Q: What about Jacquian Williams? He expressed optimism that he might be able to go?A: I am too.

Q: Will he go today?A: Yeah. He’ll be in individual and then whatever else we can do and how fast we can push him along.